Never Noticed
by BewilderedFemale
Summary: Christine Chapel was a fool head over heels for a Vulcan who'd never notice her, at least that was what she thought.
1. Chapter 1

He never noticed her.

Christine Chapel sat by herself at a table in the mess hall, there were a couple of people there. Scotty was in the back corner talking about his 80 year old bottle of scotch with a few of the guys from engineering. Some of the guys from security were socializing a few tables away and that was when he walked in. Christine's blue eyes sparkled as she couldn't help but look up at Spock in wonder.

He never looked at her.

She couldn't pinpoint to the exact moment when she realized she held such deep feelings for Spock, and while she knew she was wasting her time, she still had tried on a couple of occasions to be nice to him, to try and strike up a conversation with him, but it was always fruitless. Maybe it had been because she wasn't pretty enough, not intellectually stimulating enough or maybe she was simply not his type.  
It was a constant ache in her chest every time she saw him, and try as she might she couldn't turn it off.

For the most part Christine usually kept to herself.  
The person she interacted the most with was actually Dr. McCoy who always kept her on her toes with work and orders; she did her job very well and they both knew it.

One day she had been informed by the good doctor that the Captain wanted her to be part of the away team down in Glaukus II. An M class planet that had once been inhabited by a humanoid species very similar to that of humans but had mysteriously disappeared. They were to investigate what had happened and see what had become of the small starbase that was being set up there.

It was fine, it wasn't the first time she had been part of an away team, sometimes she looked forward to it since it gave her an excuse to get out of the ship, but her heart had given a startled jump when she saw that Spock was to be part of the team.

"Just act normal Christine, he wont even look at you anyway." Which he didn't. The only person he ever talked to once they had beamed down was the head of security and Uhura.

The planet looked as if a nuclear bomb had been dropped on it. What was once described as a lush and forest like planet had become a complete wasteland, there was no way anything could be living there now.  
The only thing that remained of the small starbase was rubble and ash which Spock knelt down to collect.

"I will study this once we get back on the ship, it could give us evidence to what happened."

It was one of the reasons why Christine admired him. To anyone else the remnants of what was should've been left alone or buried in the ground, but he had the ability to see beyond that, to seek out clues from places one would least suspect; it really was an admirable trait. Her eyes sparkled as she looked over at him, he pocketed the small bottle and was dusting off his hands when he suddenly looked up at her.  
It was unexpected.  
The weight of his sudden stare caused her cheeks to flush and to turn away from him as fast as possible but it had been too late, he had caught her staring (idolizing was more like it)  
He never looked at her so she had assumed it would be safe to. Perhaps he had done it to give her a warning, she knew he did not care for her and maybe it was finally getting to him. She suddenly wished she had not been assigned on this mission.

They had arrived at a clearing but off to the left hand side were some hills and an opening to a very dark and eerie looking cave. Despite this she would've entered the cave if she needed to. She was many things but a coward was not one of them. (Except when it came to Spock sometimes) She was about ready to peer into the cave with her tri-corder in hand when he spoke up. "Myself and Lieutenant Dunnaway will enter the cave. Uhura, Chapel; please stay here and wait for us." He said this without looking at them, took his phaser out and carefully crept inside with the Lieutenant.

Christine sighed as she leaned against the rocks, she hoped they wouldn't be kept waiting too long.

Uhura smiled as she looked at her. "So.. how long have you been in love with him?"

Christine blinked and jerked her head so suddenly that she hit herself against the rock.

"Oh my goodness I'm so sorry! Are you hurt?" Uhura asked as she quickly came over to her and patted her silky short hair.

"I'm fine it's just.. your comment." She stuttered as she looked down. "Is it really so obvious?"

Uhura shrugged. "Well to me it is because I'm a human female, but knowing Spock he probably has no idea."

Christine sighed as she leaned back carefully. "It's probably better that way. I know I'm wasting my time."

Uhura gave her a pitying look. "He's not like your average man Christine. His mind is.. it's only focused on work and the task at hand; he's not thinking about relationships or what he's going to do for fun when he gets off his shift. I wouldn't take it personally, it's just the way he is and not a reflection of what you are. You needn't settle solely on him though, there are a couple of good men on the ship who are eligible."

Christine blushed as she looked down at her tri-corder. "Oh I don't know, I don't think its necessary. I appreciate what you're trying to do though."

"Don't be silly Christine, you don't have to commit to anything. Sometimes at 1800 hours we meet at the mess hall to play cards. I would love it if you could join us sometime, it'll help take your mind of off.. you know."

"But I don't know how to play." She countered.

"Well teach you." Uhura said with a smile. "We have a good group of people; it'll do you good to socialize."

Christine smiled as she looked at her. "Aright, I guess it can't hurt."

"Of course not, you'll see that soon enough you'll forget about him, and maybe even meet someone special." She said with a wink.

Moments later Spock and Dunnaway exited the cave. Spock looking intently at Christine and then at Uhura before saying: "There is nothing here; we have enough data and samples to return to the ship now." and without another word he turned and they followed him as he lead the way to the beam up point.  
Christine felt her cheeks get hot as she wondered if he had heard what they had said. The look he had given both of them had been very strange considering he never looked directly at her.

She pushed these thoughts out of her mind and instead focused on the report she'd give to the Captain once they got back, she was checking her tri-corder and making mental notes, not at all realizing that Spock had turned around slightly and looked at her through the corner of his eye.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Uhura hadn't been kidding about getting socialized. She arrived promptly at 1800 hours and found a group of about 15 people there. Scotty had his arm around Uhura, whispering something that was making her laugh when she looked up and saw Christine approaching. She kissed Scotty before she unwrapped his arm from her shoulders and made her way over to her with a smile. "So glad you could make it! Come!" She said as she grabbed her by the hand, I'm going to introduce you to the guys."

It was weird considering she had been on Enterprise for such a long time and yet there were still so many people she had not met yet. In particular there was ensign Christopher. He was a tall brown eyed young man with a warm smile and a bowl shaped haircut that reminded her of... She shook her head, she hated how he always plagued her thoughts.

Drinks were poured, snacks were passed and before long Christine had won her first round at Gin.

"Oh my goodness girl, you are a natural!" Uhura said. A few minutes later Scotty had whispered something in her ear that caused her eyes to flicker mischievously before turning around and announcing that she was retiring for the night.

Christine looked at Uhura with wonder. She was so alive and comfortable with everyone, and she had a man who obviously worshiped her. She sighed out loud as she got up from the table, Christopher looked up at her. "Another round?"

"Nah, I think I'm gonna call it a night; it was very nice to meet you ensign Chr.."

"No, no, no, please; my friends call me Andrew." He said as his eyes twinkled. "I'd like to think that we're friends now."

She had to admit he was very cute, he seemed nice so far and yeah; she needed a man. She smiled up at him: "I think we'll be very good friends Andrew and you must call me Christine."

"Are you coming back tomorrow?" he asked almost too eagerly.

"Umm.. I'm not sure; but definitely the day after, this was a lot of fun. See you around Andrew."

"Take care Christine." He said as he watched her until she was completely out of sight.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Dr. McCoy to mister Spock." He said exasperated.

"For the fifth time, come in mister Spock."

"Spock here." He finally acknowledged. He was going over the ash from what was left of the starbase on Glaukus II, he had made some interesting discoveries and was now completely consumed in finding out what had happened.

"Damn it Spock! When are you going get your Hob Goblin butt down to sickbay? You were due 13 minutes ago! It's not like you to be tardy!"

"Doctor, I am afraid I may have to reschedule our appointment; I am in the process of finding out what happened to the inhabitants of Glaukus II."

"Spock, this is the third time you've cancelled an appointment, you know the rules better than anyone. If you don't show up I'll be forced to tell Jim that you keep putting off your checkup."

"Regulation code 14 section 2D states that if research of missing persons is being conducted and there is enough evidence to pinpoint what caused the occurrence all other assignments can be forfeited."

"This isn't an assignment Spock, this is your health we're talking about."  
Spock was about to reply but he heard a female voice talking to the doctor it was very low but he could hear perfectly that it was Christine as she said. "Should I clear his chart again doctor?" He had whispered back. "You might as well; I don't think he's coming down."

"Doctor; if you could accommodate a time change, I can be down in exactly one hour."

McCoy gave a loud and annoyed sigh. "Sure why not; I'm here to serve you your hobgobliness. McCoy out."

Spock raised a brow before returning to his work, not at all thinking about what had caused him to suddenly change his mind about going down to sickbay after all.

**I went back and tried to fix some of the spelling and grammar errors. Thanks so much you guys!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ok, so I went back to chapter 1 and tried to spruce up some of the spelling/grammar errors. Thanks so much for leaving me your reviews!**

* * *

Christine was in the mess hall quietly reading the latest issue of her favorite health and beauty magazine.  
There was a particular article that talked about the secrets of vulcan makeup that caught her eye and she was so engrossed that she didn't even notice when Andrew sat next to her.  
It wasn't until he placed his hand over her PADD that she looked up startled.

"That must be one hell of an article you're reading there Christine!"

"Oh I just.." She said as she was about to put away her PADD but he was faster than her and pulled it away from her grasp.

Andrew smiled as he held up the PADD and said aloud: "Learn the secrets to looking as young and beautiful as the women of vulcan with these easy tricks."  
He smirked over at her only to find that she did not look nearly as amused as he was. She yanked back the PADD and narrowed her eyes at him.  
"Is it common for you to go around and just yank things out of people's hands?"

He blinked and his expression became shocked. "I'm sorry Christine; I honestly didn't think you'd be offended."

She sighed loudly as she tried to calm down. The fact that he had seen what she was reading wasn't really what bothered her so much, it was the fact that they barely knew each other and there he was just taking things away from her. For some people it might've been ok, but it wasn't for her.  
Spock would never do something like that... She winced as she caught herself; she really needed to stop thinking about him so much.

"Christine, are you ok? You look like you're in pain." Andrew said with concern.

"Umm.. I think I need to leave." She said as she began picking up her tray.

"Oh, I really did offend you." He said as he began to rise from his seat with concern.

"No; you didn't, please don't think that you did, I just really need to go right now." She said as she gathered her things and left. She dumped her trash and was hastily making her way out of the hall when she ran right into someone walking in.  
The impact was hard enough that she landed sprawled on the floor, her skirt riding up most inelegantly, and her PADD being tossed aside.

"_Could this day really get any worse_?" She thought to herself as she got up and began apologizing immediately.

"I'm so extremely sorry; It's really my fault for not..."  
She looked up and found Spock standing there, already placing one hand carefully around her cloth covered arm as he helped her up.

"_Looks like it just did_."

"The fault is mine; at present I was calculating a way to resolve a pending issue that I was confronted with earlier today and was not cautious; please forgive me Nurse Chapel."

Her cheeks blushed furiously and she barely made eye contact with him; the last thing she wanted was for the man that she was crushing hard on to see her fall on the floor, exposing her panties for the world to see.

"I... it's really ok.. I just.. I need to go now." She said as she made a hasty retreat.  
Spock placed his hands behind his back as he raised his brows in a "That was odd" fashion. He then looked to the side and saw Ensign Christopher looking over at him curiously before returning to his meal.

Spock however was quite use to receiving such looks so he thought nothing of it at present and walked over to the replicator to partake of his evening meal.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Doctor McCoy; I ran the results from Spock's blood work the other day."  
Nurse Chapel said as she held up his chart.

"I know; I saw the results too. I want him to come by; I believe his protein and potassium levels could be better." He replied.

"Shall I attempt to make the appointment doctor?" She asked; her heart already beginning to beat faster.

"No, you know how Spock is; I'll have to talk to him personally to get him to come here."  
Doctor McCoy then clicked several buttons before speaking towards the computer: "MCCoy to Spock"

"Spock here Doctor."

"Spock we need to talk about your blood work; you'll need to come down to sickbay."

"I am unable to at this time doctor." Spock replied and McCoy rolled his eyes as he looked over at Nurse Chapel who smiled at the vulcan's typical response.

"Damn it Spock! This concerns your health! Can't you at least pretend to care?"

"Doctor; I can, in fact state to you the various reasons why I as a Vulcan do not need to be concerned over any health issues you feel you might have found, one of them being that if we are in fact ill we vulcans have the ability to heal ourselves through intense meditation and this does not require that I be present in sickbay."

"You can meditate yourself into oblivion Spock! I still want you to come down to sickbay! It'll take no more than five minutes to discuss the issue."

"I can come down in two hour's time doctor."

"I wont be here in two hours; I have a meeting with the Captain, but Nurse Chapel will be here; I can leave all the information with her."

McCoy was already expecting Spock to come back with some sassy remark, something along the lines that the nurse had no authority to give confidential information and then site some regulation, or maybe suggest another time, so it was quite a surprise to hear him reply:

"That will be fine doctor; Spock out."

McCoy rose his brow as he looked over at the nurse who was trying to look calm despite the intense blushing.  
"Well; you heard him, he'll be here in two hours."

Nurse Chapel nodded. "Yes doctor; I shall have all the information ready for him when he arrives."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Spock arrived exactly two hours later, his hands behind his back as he stood in front of Nurse Chapel.

"The doctor had some information for me I believe." He said cutting right to the point.

"Yes." She replied as she presented him with a chart.

"Keeping in mind that your blood is copper based, we find that your levels of potassium and protein could be better. The doctor has listed various suggestions most of them being vegan friendly food items that can help bring them up to a normal state." She then handed him a square yellow disk.

"Mr. Spock if I might ask; how often do you take meals?"

"Everyone morning at 700 hours, occasionally at 1200 hours and if work permits, I have my evening meal at 1900 hours."

She smiled as she looked at the chart. "I'm no doctor Mr. Spock, but it sounds to me like you're just not eating enough. Vulcan metabolism is faster than that of humans; I believe you simply need more energy." She said this as she observed his skinny body.

He caught her stare and his cheeks became slightly green as he cleared his throat to get her attention to his face once again.

"I find that is a valid observation nurse; perhaps I do need to make a better effort to consume all three meals a day."

She nodded happily as she scribbled on her PADD. "Great!; I'll just make a note here saying that we have discussed the issue for doctor McCoy to look at when he gets back and I think that's it; you're free to go. Mr. Spock."

She was already starting to turn around when he cleared his throat yet again, her blue eyes flashed brilliant at him, and he stared into them probably longer than he should have.  
"Does it say on this disk what foods in particular the doctor recommends?"

She thought about it before answering. "It's all good I'm sure Mr. Spock."

"Yes I'm sure as well Nurse Chapel, but there are certain foods that contain more protein and potassium than others. Perhaps it would be prudent if you would join me tomorrow at the mess hall; perhaps you could recommend which one's would be of greatest benefit to my well being."

At first Christine said nothing and simply stayed staring at him in complete shock.

He cocked his head to the side and looked at her curiously. "Nurse Chapel?" He asked when she wasn't responding.

She shook her head and then put her hand over her forehead as if that would stop the intense flush of her cheeks. "Yes, yes of course; I would be glad to. So I'll see you tomorrow at…"

"1900 hours." Spock finished for her. He gave her a quick nod of the head and exited out back to his station, leaving Nurse Chapel with a rush of emotion that she could just barely contain as she laughed out loud with delight.

It was just a brief encounter they would have; she'd help him pick out his food and then he'd probably even take it back to his quarters to eat alone as he usually did but it still felt good to know he valued her opinion and she was content with that; she would look forward to the following day.


	3. Chapter 3

The day went by in a blur for Christine.

She needed only thirty minutes before she was supposed to meet up with Spock. She was in her quarters looking at herself in the mirror and applying a light bit of makeup when the door chime to her room went off.  
She flashed the door an annoyed look but then straightened up before announcing "Come in"  
If it was McCoy she was going to tell him to take a hike; she was not about to arrive late for her meeting with Spock.

The door slid open and there stood Andrew holding a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

"Christine!" He said with a joyous smile.  
"I hope that you are doing well today."

She blinked in shock as she looked at the flowers and then back up at him.

"I am Andrew; what's all this?"

"Ahh yes." He said as he stepped into her quarters without her permission.

"I figure that I would apologize properly; it seems that I offended you the other day."

She sighed and hung her head slightly. "Andrew; I told you that there was no offense taken."

"That may be." He said "But I did not want to risk leaving a bitter impression of myself."

Christine's eyes were flickering towards her clock as he spoke, she looked awkwardly at the flowers and then towards her door; she needed to leave soon if she was to arrive on time, and she couldn't figure out how to do it without coming off as rude.

"Thank you." She said as she took the flowers from him. "It really wasn't necessary but I appreciate it."

"You should be treated as a Queen." He said with a smile.

Christine laughed awkwardly; he was really cute and all but the guy barely knew her; she felt like he was pushing things much to quickly.

"I think this calls for dinner." He then said, and Christine's face instantly fell.

"I can't Andrew, at least not today. I'm already running late to meet up with someone."

Andrew narrowed his eyes at her statement, and then scoffed at her reply. "Like a date?"  
Christine opened her mouth to reply but then closed it again; what was this guy's deal anyway?  
He seemed to catch himself and waved his hands in the air.

"I"m sorry; I know I came here unannounced and I'm sorry to interrupt; perhaps tomorrow?"

She was already shaking her head yes, anything to get him the hell out of her quarters already; if she arrived late Spock would think her irresponsible.

"Yeah sure; We'll talk later to set it up ok?" She said as she was leading him out her door but before he left; he turned around and looked into her blue eyes and took one of her hands in his.

"I'll contact you my dearest Christine."  
He then lifted her hand and placed a tender kiss on it before leaving.  
Once he was out of sight, she took one last look in the mirror before she hastily ran out of her quarters.

Spock was already in the mess hall standing near one of the replicators with his hands behind his back. He had arrived five minutes early just in case; it was logical to take precautions.

He was turning to face the hallway that led to the entry way when he saw quick movements; it was Christine hastily making her way towards him. When their eyes met, her blue eyes sparkled magnificently, her red lips turning upwards into a smile he recently came to recognize meant she was pleased.  
He remained perfectly neutral in expression but his eyes never wavered from hers as she approached him.  
He could tell from looking at her pulse points that her heartbeat was accelerated, then as if to confirm this he could already begin to hear her taking deep, quick breaths, as she got closer, he could see small beads of sweat already beginning to form near her temple.  
He did not know why he found these small details to be fascinating; he would have to meditate over the matter at a later time.

"Good Evening Mr. Spock!" She said slightly out of breath.

"Good Evening to you as well." He said as he continued to observe her, her cheeks were becoming pink; another fascinating detail.

"I hope I'm not late." She said as she looked towards the digital time display up on the wall.

"You are 16 seconds early Nurse Chapel." He replied in his usual manner. "I have gone over the list of recommended foods; there were several items on there that I did not know could be replicated."

"Well, some of them have been recently added; like the watercress salad."

"I see. Was this something Doctor McCoy did?"

She blushed again and looked away from him. "No, I did."

He didn't reply, just continued to look at her with those dark eyes and expression that said nothing. It almost seemed like he was angry to her, so she quickly tried to draw the attention away from herself.  
She walked over to the replicator and began entering codes.

"5531 will give you a vegetable based quinoa soup. On Earth Quinoa use to be considered food of the gods because the people who ate it were some of the healthiest people who lived for many years; it's packed with protein, potassium, and many other beneficial nutrients."

She dug into her skirt pocket and pulled out a red square disk.  
"I know that the doctor already gave you a list of foods you could eat, but I went ahead and created a disk that would have the replicator codes of all those foods; it'll save you time."

She held up the red disk with a smile. He looked at the disk and then back at her before he took it and placed it in his pocket.

"I thank you." was all he replied before he placed his hands behind his back again.

The replicator hummed and in no time dispensed a silver bowl filled with lovely red broth and a spoon.  
She then entered another code and soon after the watercress salad appeared.

She placed the items on a tray and handed it over to him.

"There you are Mr. Spock; a nutritious meal."

He stared at the contents of the tray and then back at her before he took it.

"Thank you for everything Nurse Chapel."

"It's my job Mr. Spock"  
She said with a smile. She really was glad she could help him, even though he wasn't leaving yet, she could already see he was going to turn around and head back to his quarters with his tray; she already knew that that was what he would do so she wasn't going to be surprised; maybe a little disappointed but it was his way.

She looked up and saw that Andrew was approaching. That awkward look immediately came upon her face but she quickly replaced it with a smile.

Andrew looked over at Spock and then at Christine.  
"Good evening Mr. Spock, how do you do?" He asked with almost too much enthusiasm.

"I am well Ensign Christopher." Spock replied. He observed the human before him and realized he was of a good physique, slightly taller than himself, and obviously interested in Christine if the look he was currently giving her gave any indication.

"If you'll excuse me." Spock began, he then turned to Christine. "Thank you again for the assistance."

"Anytime Mr. Spock" She replied. He nodded, then took another look at Andrew before he left with his tray of replicated food.  
Christine stared after him; she wondered what it would've been like to share a meal with the man, she really was a fool; there was no way he'd ever see her as anything more than a nurse.

Andrew watched her carefully, he had actually seen almost everything that had transpired between them earlier before he ran into them.

She turned to him and smiled. "I'll take that rain check for dinner now if you're able to Andrew." She said.  
He smiled and motioned towards the replicator: "Ladies first."


	4. Chapter 4

The Enterprise was orbiting around Centarius; another M class planet that reportedly had undergone the same ordeal as Glaukus II.

"We need to get to the bottom of this Mr. Spock." Captain Kirk said to him in private on the bridge.

"Perhaps there is something inhabiting the planets that we haven't found, a disguise that neither you nor I can see." He huffed as he placed his hands under his chin deep in thought.

"There is an obvious chain forming Mr. Spock and we need to put an end to it, we can't continue to have planets completely destroyed of their inhabitants."

"I agree with your mode of thinking Captain. I volunteer to go down the planet's surface and collect more data, I can then examine the difference with the samples I've collected from Glaukus II, it could very well provide an answer."

"Permission granted, go ahead and form an away team, I think Dr. McCoy would be of beneficial use in this case; he could provide a medical stand point."

Spock raised a brow. "As the scans read that there are no survivors Captain, I don't see how Dr. McCoy could be of much help especially when you consider that he has recently been carrying out double shifts to accommodate his busy schedule. I do however agree that some form of medical input would be advisable."

Captain Kirk's eyes lit up. "Yes! I agree; take nurse Chapel with you and when you get back, I want her helping you with your findings. This needs to be placed in high priority Spock; I will not have any more lives destroyed!"

Spock nodded. "Yes Captain; I'm on my way to assemble the team."

Spock made his way down to sickbay. At present Dr. McCoy was tending to a patient and nurse Chapel was inputting information onto her PADD. The patient had just been sedated and was currently asleep on the biobed.

McCoy looked up; it was obvious he was surprised by Spock's arrival.

"I know that you're not here for a checkup Mr. Spock." He began.

Spock nodded. "You are correct; the Captain has asked that nurse Chapel be a participant in the away team; she will also be required to help me with our findings afterwards as well."

Spock momentarily looked over at her; she had one hand covering her face, her blue eyes wide with surprise.

McCoy narrowed his eyes at the Vulcan. "You would take away the only help I have! How am I supposed to get any work done around here without her?"

He then held his pointer finger up at Spock.  
"This is some kind of green blooded ploy of yours!"

"I assure you that..." Spock began; he already knew this would be a likely reaction; the doctor clearly lacked the adequate time humans required of sleep. The dark circles under his eyes and his pale complexion was proof of his theory.

"Now, now Dr. McCoy." Nurse Chapel finally said as she joined them. "I promise to help both you Dr. and Mr. Spock when I get back, and while I'm gone I'll have Ensign Serena come help you doctor; she has medical experience."

"I don't want no Ensign Serena! I want my nurse!" McCoy roared.

"Perhaps this is something you'd like to discuss with the Captain." Spock said as he raised a brow. "I am simply carrying out my orders doctor."

McCoy in turn gave him an infuriating stare before he threw his hands up in the air. "Fine! Take her! She's all yours! Mr. Spock!"

He even went as far as to push her towards Spock. The shock and unexpectedness of it was so great that she couldn't stop herself from falling hard into his arms. She looked up at him in shock, surely he'd be upset now even if it had been Dr. McCoys fault, she knew Vulcans didn't like to be touched.  
But instead of finding annoyance or frustration in his stare, she saw warmth and a tranquility that made her want to look into his eyes forever.  
She didn't know if only a few seconds had passed or minutes, but she felt his hands gently take hold of her arms as he tenderly said: "I'm sorry that you have been placed in the middle of this; it was not my intention."

Christine felt a thrilling sensation as he looked into her eyes. This was a dream, it had to be.  
Surely she was imagining the wanting look he was giving her. She needed to stop staring otherwise she'd end up making a fool of herself.

She looked back to see if McCoy was still around but he had stormed off, and was probably in his office. "It's ok, he gets like this when he's under too much stress, I can handle him." She replied in a voice she didn't recognize.  
Spock nodded, still looking into her eyes and it was then as if he had finally realized he was still holding her. He quickly dropped his hands and let go, too quickly.

Christine blinked in response but didn't say anything. Spock's demeanor had then changed again back to his neutral-all business stare.

"We will rendezvous in the transporter room in one hour." He then turned around and was gone, leaving a flustered nurse Chapel behind.

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Christine arrived a few minutes early to the transporter room. Spock was already there conversing with Mr. Scott. He didn't look up to greet her, and when everyone else from the landing party arrived he broke away from Mr. Scott and announced:

"I think we're all here"  
He looked over at everyone except for her, and then turned to stand on the transporter pad.  
Everyone did the same and once they were in place, he nodded towards Scotty: "Energize"

The planet looked to be in exactly the same state as Glaukus II had. No signs of life, and the planet was left like a wasteland. There was a desert valley up ahead which they all walked to, in contrast to the other planet however, this one still had some trees scattered about near the mountains. Spock was observing one of the trees, deep in thought.

"You think there might still be people here don't you?" Nurse Chapel asked.

He didn't look at her but nodded.  
"I believe there might be a 19.4% chance which is why I think it would be advisable for us to split up into pairs. Nurse Chapel, please accompany Lieutenant Rogers and check the left side of the valley; I will go with Ensign Ramirez and we should theoretically meet up in the middle; please place your phasers on stun just to be cautious."

She knew he wouldn't go with her, it was not a surprise, but it still hurt.

She was a bit more nervous this time around than when they were on  
the other planet. It could've been because she, like Spock, suspected that there were people hiding somewhere.  
There was comfort in the knowledge however that she was with Lieutenant Rogers, the head of security; his distinguished red uniform reflected brightly in contrast to the dull background of the planet.

They had walked a good ways and were coming up a clearing when Rogers turned to her.

"I'll walk ahead just to be sure."  
He said, and held up his phaser as he crossed the path. Christine watched behind some rocks, she felt odd; the feeling one got when they were being watched.

Lieutenant Rogers never had a chance. After he had taken his first few steps, there had been a loud laser blast, he was suddenly engulfed by a bright blue light and then disappeared.

Christine had cried out and began running in the other direction, when she turned the corner however, she had come face to face with creatures who looked like rock people. She immediately reached for her phaser, but they were quicker and began firing before she could.

All she could remember was the color of rusty brown skies before she lost consciousness.


	5. Chapter 5

Spock had been analyzing a type of Flora growing within the valley when he heard the scream. He swerved towards Ramirez, who in turn looked at him oddly.

"What's wrong?"

"I heard a scream." Spock replied.

Without hesitating, he pulled away from the plantlife and set off running in the direction of which the scream had come from; Ramirez following behind.  
They arrived at the point where the disappearance had occured. Spock pointed towards the dirt.

"Foot prints; they seem to be Lieutenant Rogers; and they disappear there."

Spock looked up towards the rock formations and stood back against the rocks. He picked up his communicator.

"Come in Lieutenant Rogers; do you read me Lieutenant?"

Silence was his only response. He maintained a calm semblance but the fact was that he was worried. If Lieutenant had disappeared, it was 94.6% certain that Christine had as well.

"Nurse Chapel do you read me? Spock to Nurse Chapel."

Again there was silence. He quickly put away his comm and pulled out his phaser.  
Ensign Ramirez was watching him and began to do the same.

"Mr. Spock; perhaps.."

But Spock quickly put a finger towards his lips, indicating that now was not the time to speak over the matter. What Ramirez didn't know was that Spock had heard the sound of distant footsteps approaching.

Spock carefully crept along the rocks and pointed his phaser in such a way that anyone who walked past him wouldn't see him hidden, and he could easily fire at his enemy.  
Ramirez quickly realized what he was doing and mimicked his movements.

Soon, the sound of the footsteps grew quite loud and moments later; the same pair of rock people who had shot Christine only took two steps past where Spock was hidden before Spock fired his phaser towards the one on the right. He fell instantly and before the remaining one could fire, Spock dove towards him.

They both fell on the ground, but Spock had his superior Vulcan strength that quickly subdued the other creature.  
Spock looked into his greyish eyes and in a demanding tone declared:

"There were two others here; what have you done with them?"

The creature simply looked up at him and didn't reply, so Spock in turn tightened his grip.

"You will tell me now!"

The creature placed his rock like hands over Spock's before finally replying: "Cannot say, but will take you to Memrah."

"Who or what is Memrah?" Spock replied.

"He is leader here." The creature then swallowed hard, his stony-like skin bobbing up and down as he did so. "Are you the one who destroyed our people?"

Spock lessened his grip. It could very well be that these were remaining survivors of the attack on their planet; the victims.

"No; we've come to help you. We want to stop whatever is causing the destruction."

The creature blinked. He stared at Spock in awe.  
"Then you are chosen ones! The one the prophecy speaks of. The one's who will save us!"

Spock didn't have time to argue, he needed to make sure that Christine and Rogers were safe so he got up off of the creature and held his hand out to help him up.

"Please." The creature began once he was back up on his feet. "Please follow me. Memrah and the others have been waiting for you."

The creature led them to a cave which then took them to an underground city. There were many more other creatures there pushing barrels of shiny, multi-colored rocks, some of them carrying buckets of water. All of them stopped what they were doing to look at them as they passed.

They came up to a hallowed out hallway that led to a small room completely lit by candles. There were two guards there who nodded towards the creature in front of Spock and stepped aside and allow Memrah to come into view. A rock creature like everyone else except he was wearing a gold and red robe, and his fingers were littered with rings made from the same multi-colored rocks he had seen before, whereas everyone else wore the same grey one piece suit.

The creature bowed before him. "Sir; these people we found above; they say they here to help us; to rid us of the thing that has been killing our people."

Memrah stood tall from his seat. He looked at Spock and then bowed his head slightly.

"I am Memrah. Are you the one's the prophecy speaks of? I am sorry that the one in red was destroyed; he was trespassing and we thought him to be one of the evil doers."

"What about Chris... Nurse Chapel?" Spock asked immediately.

"The female?" Memrah asked. "She is fine, she is residing in one of the Tehkem houses. She is powerful." He then cocked his head to the side.

"I do not feel the same power from you however."  
He then walked over to Ramirez and held up a hand towards him. After a few moments he dropped it. "You do not have it either."

Spock blinked. "I do not understand what you mean by 'power' We are all Star Fleet officers, who are on a mission of peace; we want to help the survivors of this planet but to do so we will need your assistance."

Memrah nodded. "You shall have it. What do you require from us?"

"I need to know, who or what did this to your planet. There seems to be a pattern where everything is left looking like a wasteland, but you all managed to survive in contrast to other planets."

Memrah's face took on a look of shock. "You mean... there have been others?"

The guards began to mumble amongst themselves, but Memrah  
silenced them.

"It is as the prophecy states then! It is written that a time of war and hardship would come to us and others, but that we would be saved by the chosen ones."

"But we are not what you believe us to be; We are simply a peace keeping armada, sent by.." Spock began before he was interrupted.

"You may call yourself what you wish but the prophecy has proven to be true, which also means that my prediction with regards to the female is also true."

"The female? Our nurse? What prediction is that if I may ask?" Spock quickly inquired.

"She is human, am I correct?"

"Yes; she is. I do not see to what conclusion this is headed to." Spock said, he never lost his patience but this Memrah could very well just change that.

"She contains the power we need; she will be the one to lead us back to the way it was before. She is the holder of the life crystal that the prophecy speaks of."

"She is purity itself; the chosen one, and she will stay here with us forever."

* * *

"Uhura, any word on Mr. Spock?"

"Nothing Captain, it's as if they disappeared." She said. "I checked all channels, none of the away team members are responding."

"That's not what I want to hear Lieutenant!" Kirk shot at her.

"I'll keep trying sir." She said as she flipped a few switches.

Captain Kirk was about to give out another order when they were suddenly hit. Everyone held on to whatever was nearby but some fell all out on the floor.

"Sulu! Shields up! Checkov; report!"

"Enemy Wessel coming on screen Captain in 3..2.."

Shades of green, brown, and grey began to appear, it was blury at first but Captain Kirk knew right away what it was. He had had a gut feeling from the start that they were the cause of what was happening.

"Of course; the Klingons..." He said as he slumped back on his chair. Before him now was a clear view of a Klingon bird of prey.


	6. Chapter 6

When Christine woke she had quite the headache, but even that would be ok if that had been it.

The truth was that her whole body felt odd, she couldn't really place what it was exactly, it wasn't painful, and it wasn't obstructing her functions, but she just knew something about her now was different.

"You're awake!" Came a friendly female voice.

Christine tried to sit up but it caused her head to throb badly, what she wouldn't do to be on the ship right now; she would be able to take care of it in seconds.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Christine asked. When the girl approached, she instinctively tried to move away from her. She looked the same as the people who shot at her except a lot smaller and more feminine in appearance.

The girl held up her hands. "I'm not going to harm you. You were shot at before by accident; you were believed to be one of the evil doers who trespassed on our planet."

"But… We're just trying to help you." Christine began.

"Yes we know; you will help us."

"Of course, I just need to get a hold of my team to let them know that I'm alright."

The girl's eyes lit up at the mention of others and Christine knew right away that maybe they had already seen Spock and the others.

"Are they here too? I have to see them." Christine said as she tried to rise out of her small cot.

"They're currently speaking with Memrah; he is our leader. Memrah will wish to speak to you as well; I will go inform him that you are awake." But before the girl could leave, she turned back to Christine with a shy smile. "I… I don't know how to say this without… I feel very honored to have tended to one of the chosen ones."

Christine blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I… Nevermind; I shall go speak to Memrah now."

Christine raised a brow as she watched the girl leave: "That was weird.."

* * *

Spock tried to stay as calm as possible at the news. There was no point in thinking that the circumstances would come to Christine staying on this planet; it simply was not an option.

"I assure you Memrah that we will do what is necessary to make sure you're free of those who have committed these crimes against you but Nurse Chapel cannot stay; she is needed with us."

Ensign Ramirez looked over at Spock and then at Memrah and tried to play along.

"Yes; she must return with us." Ramirez added. "She must be present to help others who are in need as well."

"But the prophecy states that she must stay! She is the chosen one! The keeper of the life crystal!" Memrah declared. "_So much for that strategy_" Ramirez thought to himself.

"You must see what I mean; come! We will go to her!" Memrah said before he turned around, his robe billowing after him as he walked. They were arriving at one of the many tent houses nearby when a young girl approached them. She bowed before Memrah and began speaking in a language Spock and Ramirez did not understand.  
She then went back inside and Memrah beckoned for them to follow.

At the sight of Spock and Ramirez, Christine practically jumped out of her small cot; trying desperately to ignore her head pain.

"Thank goodness you're all safe." She began with a sigh of relief.

"Except for Lieutenant Rogers; he is dead." Spock said bluntly.

Christine's eyes shot wide open at the news. She fell back on her cot most inelegantly but she didn't have time to think about that since she was approached by one of the rock people; it was obvious to her he was the leader as he was dressed differently.

"I am Memrah." He said as he bowed to her. "It is indeed an honor to have you here.

Christine nodded. "We're all here to help you."

"Exactly." Spock replied. "If you would now allow us to contact our ship; we could beam down the appropriate assistance."

Memrah wasn't even paying attention to what Spock had said. He was busy looking at Christine with utter fascination. She too was preoccupied looking at him, and didn't notice the change in Spock's appearance. He cleared his throat loudly.

"Memrah, if you could just.."

"Shhh!" Memrah commanded. He then lifted up his hand as he had done to Spock earlier.  
He moved his jeweled hand closer towards Christine and for a moment it almost looked as if he were going straight for her chest; Spock was already heading towards her, but then he stopped when a glowing blue light began to emit from Christine's chest.

The words: "Fascinating" already being spoken by Spocks lips.

"It is as I said." Memrah said as he moved his hand around, but the blue light persisted still.

"She is the keeper of the life crystal; she has the power as the prophecy states."

"Power?" Christine asked wide eyed. She looked over at Spock. "What is he talking about? And why are you doing that thing with your hand sir? It is making me feel odd."  
Christine said as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Please stop doing that, please." She asked Memrah. She took a couple of steps forward and collapsed.

Spock had been observing her intently and once she began to fall, he swiftly reached across and took hold of her in his arms before she could fall on the ground.  
He held her close to him and then looked up at Memrah. "She needs to be returned to the ship, she might be ill."

"I did not think our communication would cause her harm, she must still be under effects of the phaser injury." Memrah said as he came around to look at Christine.

"Yes please, call your ship, get her the necessary attention she needs." Memrah said as he took hold of her hand. Spock looked on as he did this. It was a very tempting desire to rip Memrah's hands off of her, but he instead reached for his communicator and spoke into it.

"Spock to Captain Kirk, come in Captain."

It took a while but the Captain finally responded.

"Spock! What the devil has taken you so long to get in contact?"

"We found life forms Captain, they're living under ground, nurse Chapel is ill and she needs to be beamed up at this time."

"I can't! We're under attack my Klingons Mr. Spock."

Spocks brows rose. "They were the ones who.."

"Yes, yes Mr. Spock I can't beam the nurse up now; I'll notify you the minute we drop shields; Kirk out."

Spock put away his communicator, Christine was still in his arms but he did nothing to move her away.

"Memrah; do you have a medical facility here?"

"Oh my." He said with a look of pity. "We did before the destruction, now what we have left is just various tents with medicine and tools that we managed to salvage. You may look at them if you wish."

"I shall do more than look." Spock replied. "I will take nurse Chapel there."

He lifted Christine up bridal style. He could see her cheeks burning.

"M..Mr.. Spock! I think I am able to walk." She said in flustered manner.

"That was not the case less than five minutes ago. It is better to be cautious."

They arrived at the tents where Spock placed Christine down in one of the cots, her headache was getting worse.  
Spock began to browse the devices and medicines they had.

"I must confess; a lot of this is unfamiliar to me. If Dr. McCoy were here, he would have a better of idea of how to make use of these items." Spock said more to himself than the others.

"Maybe all she needs is a good meal. I don't know why I didn't think of it before! I'll see to it myself!" Memrah declared before he left the tent.  
Once he was gone, Spock turned over to Christine, her eyes were closed tightly and she was taking deep breaths.

"Are you in pain?" He asked her.

"Yes, I'm having what is probably the worst headache I've ever had."

"Are you well enough to look at the supplies they have here? Logically you would be better able to perhaps treat your current predicament."  
She nodded and took her time rising out of the cot, Spock helped her stand, grabbing her by the arm.

"Nurse Chapel." He whispered.

"Do you know why they believe you to be; 'the chosen one?' "

She rolled her eyes at that. "Believe me Mr. Spock, I am just as perplexed about that as you are. All I know is that I was shot by one of their phasers and next thing I know I'm being tended to by a young girl who thinks I'm the one who will save them all."

Spock's eyebrows rose. "They fired at you?"

"Well yes; it was right after Rogers disappeared." She replied as she remembered. "I tried to fire first but.. They were too fast."

Spock placed his hand under his chin and paced around the small space.

"I would like to have a look at one of their phasers; it might just hold an answer."

He then looked around, the tent was slightly open and they were able to look outside. There were a couple of the rock people digging out those multi-colored stones.

He watched as the people handled the precious looking gems, an idea already formulating in his mind.

* * *

"Scotty; report!"

"Aye, she cannot hold on much longer, one more hit like that and she'll blow apart!"

Captain Kirk had tried by all means to avoid doing this, but it seems he had no choice.

"Uhura, open a hailing channel, we need to try and communicate with them."

"I've already been trying sir, but they're not responding…. Wait.. They're hailing us now Captain!"

"On screen!"

Soon a face appeared. The Klingon had a wide smile on his face. "Captain Kirk; I honestly did not expect it to be you."

"You know him Sir?" Chekov stated in a startled manner.

"I should've known you were behind this Koloth. What is it you're after this time?"

The Klingon shot out a boisterous laugh, displaying his dirty brown teeth and unkept hair and beard, it was obvious he had been traveling out in space for a while.

"You know me well Captain Kirk, but I should ask you the same thing. What brings you to Centarius?"

Kirk didn't answer however and shot him with another question. "Are you the one responsible for the lives of the people of this planet and on Glaukus II?

"I will not answer your question as you did not answer mine. I will give you ten minutes to leave Captain or I shall destroy you."

The screen went blank and everyone stayed staring in shock.


	7. Chapter 7

**I want to thank everyone who's been reading along. Also; thanks very much for your reviews, and those that have given me pointers with regards to the animated series an TOS, greatly appreciate it! **

* * *

Kirk immediately gathered his Senior staff to discuss what needed to be done.

After some back and forth discussion with Scotty they had determined that they only had one shot of debilitating the Klingon Bird of Prey, and they had to time it just right so that they would be the ones to inflict damage before the Enterprise was struck again.  
If everything went according to plan then the Klingons would be at the mercy of the Enterprise.

Almost too soon Koloth's toothy grin appeared on screen. Victory was already written all over his face for according to him he had Captain Kirk cornered with no choice but to surrender.  
It was of great shock to hear Captain Kirk declare:

"Koloth; I'm only giving you one more chance to come forward for your actions."

Koloth in turn was sputtering in shock, but then laughed heartily. "You? Threaten me Kirk? Have you lost all sense? I clearly have you in my control! I can kill you right this second if I wish it. Why I.."

"You have been warned." Kirk interrupted. "Sulu; now!"

Sulu nodded. "Firing torpedo's Captain."

This only made Koloth laugh even harder. "Yes! Fire at me Captain Kirk! What good will it do? My shields are no match for…."

Just then, everyone on the bridge could see how Koloth's ship shook violently, it caught him off guard and he started shouting orders in Klingon and then his image disappeared.

"Target has been hit sir." Chevok said. "Ve have hit the area vhere the sensory array is located and significantly veakened their shields."

"Now Sulu! Fire towards their torpedo launcher!"

"It's a hit sir, but it is too early to know if our plan has worked." Sulu replied.

Kirk, looked at the screen currently showing the bird of prey.

"I think it did; he would've fired at us by now." Kirk replied.

"Uhura, open a hailing channel." Kirk commanded.  
"Aye sir." She replied as she flipped a couple of switches.

Again Koloth's face appeared. He was furious and pounding on his arm chair. "I promise you will pay for this Kirk! I swear it if it's the last thing I do!" He didn't even let Captain Kirk reply. The connection was cut off and it went back to the image of Koloth's bird of prey, and then it suddenly disappeared.

Sulu's eyes grew wide. "Apparently their cloaking device is still functioning. Shall I fire sir? I can estimate where they're currently located."

Kirk sighed loudly. "That won't be necessary Mr. Sulu. We have a landing party down on Centarius who are in need of our assistance."

* * *

Christine Chapel had been mixing different chemicals together. She looked so professional and determined that Spock didn't realize that he had been staring until his comm went off.  
Luckily she was so concentrated in her work she had not noticed. He walked a few steps away from her to answer.

"Spock here."

"Mr. Spock, we've successfully defeated the Klingons and are ready to beam Nurse Chapel aboard."

"Captain, plans might have changed. I request that you come down. The Centarians mine certain types of stones here that I would like for you to take a look at. If my theory is correct it might explain why the Klingons wanted the inhabitants of this planet out of the way."

"Say no more Mr. Spock; I'm on my way."

Spock ended communication with Captain Kirk and put his comm away when Nurse Chapel turned around with a smile.

"I think I have it; we use something similar on the ship for bodily pain and to advance healing."

"Nurse Chapel." He began. "You are now able to beam aboard the ship and take whatever you need. While I trust your expertise with medicine, the fact remains that you still do not know how the contents here will react with your body."

She smiled but she was stern as well. "I appreciate your concern Mr. Spock but you forget that I too am a scientist and I thrive on new discoveries and the only way to discover if my concoction works is if I experiment it on myself."

Spock shook his head. "Your reasoning is based off of a human emotion to prove that you have been successful. I can only deduce that you do this so that you can prove to yourself that you are able and skilled at creating medicine; it is not logical for if it has an adverse reaction you could end up endangering your life."

She knew that what he said made sense; she knew that he was saying this to make sure she remained in safety but it didn't stop his words from hurting her deeply. As illogical as it might've been, his words said to her that he didn't think her capable. She was willing to bet that if it had been McCoy standing there mixing chemicals he wouldn't have said anything and let him drink it.

"I must meet the Captain at the beam up point; I shall return momentarily." Spock said before he exited the tent. He took one last look at her as if not wanting to leave before he finally did.

She waited a good while before she too exited the tent to look at her surroundings. She could see Ensign Ramirez conversing with a group of people, and then up ahead were those curious looking stones, She smiled as she looked at them, it wouldn't hurt just to take a closer look she thought.  
As she approached them she was suddenly engulfed with crippling pain, so bad that she fell on to the floor and literally dragged herself back inside. The head pain was so intense she thought her head was going to split in two. She eyed the vial she had created and then back outside.

She picked it up and contemplated the contents before another crippling wave of pain hit her. She heard running and then saw Ensign Ramirez.

"Nurse Chapel; I saw that you fell; are you alright?"

All she could do was reply: "Pain…" as she clutched the vial tightly to her.

He came over to her and took her in his arms.  
He looked at the vial and asked: "Did you make this nurse Chapel?"

She nodded.  
"Will it make you feel better?"

"Yes but.." was all she said before another wave of pain hit her. She twisted in pain in Ensign Ramirez' arms.  
He quickly took the vile from her hands and before she knew it; she had her head tilted back and was drinking the contents of the vial.


	8. Chapter 8

**I just want to thank everyone who's added this story to their favorites/alert and those who've left reviews. It's a great motivator!**  
**There still is a lot more to come; stay tuned!**

* * *

After Christine drank the contents of the vile, she instantly began to feel her pain subside. Ensign Ramirez was still clutching her closely to him and looking intently into her eyes to make sure that she really was alright.

It would happen however that in those moments Captain Kirk and Spock entered the tent. A smirk quickly appeared on Captain Kirk's face but Spock's only grew severe as he quickly barked. "What is the meaning of this ensign?!"

Ramirez's eyes were wide and he stuttered a bit as he realized how the situation must appear to them. "She was in pain, she was screaming and I came to her rescue while you were gone Mr. Spock!"

His expression did not lessen in severity but he dropped it for now and came around to look at nurse Chapel who was struggling with the ensign to be let go.

"I'm fine now, I think that my remedy worked; the pain is almost gone now."

"You drank the contents of your mixture even though I expressly told you it would not be safe to."

Spock said. Christine was caught off guard for he seemed angry and she had never seen him lose his cool before, it was a bit unsettling, despite that however she was feeling a bit frustrated, what did he expect her to do? Lose consciousness due to the pain? He couldn't begin to understand how horrible she had felt.

"I drank it because you were gone Mr. Spock and the wave of pain that engulfed me was already starting to make me lose consciousness. You may not have faith in me as a medicine woman but I made a choice whether you agree with it or not."

He continued to look at her while speaking to the Kirk. "Captain; I request that Miss Chapel beam back on the ship, she should be thoroughly examined to make sure she is in acceptable health."

"Captain no!" She found herself replying. Spock's eyes grew wide but then his face quickly became neutral again.

"Captain; I feel fine, and these people.. The Centarians need our help, we need to get to the bottom of what's going on here, and I have a feeling that it has to do with those rocks they mine outside. It was what got me to feel so ill earlier. I know it might sound crazy but I have a feeling that they hold some kind of power."

Captain Kirk turned over to Spock and quickly asked: "Spock, your analysis?"

He continued to look over at Christine but then turned back to Kirk and nodded. "In the latter respect I believe she has a valid point. I believe that it was those rocks the Klingons were after and they may hold some sort of significance that we're not yet aware of; it would be prudent to examine its contents."

Captain Kirk nodded. "Fine, let's not waste any time." He turned to nurse Chapel then as he asked. "And you're sure that you're feeling fine nurse?" She gave him a bright smile, her blue eyes twinkling as she replied. "Better than ever sir."

"and this medicine you made was with the ingredients in this tent?" He asked.

Christine nodded. "Yes sir, it's very similar to what we make on the ship, the ingredients vary a bit in certain compounds but on the whole it is very much the same. I believe that if I leave some made the Centarians might be able to benefit from it as well."

Kirk smiled in turn. "Miss Chapel, You are quite the scientist; you have permission to continue working here."

Christine smiled and gave Spock a triumphant look, he did not return her stare however and once they were out of the tent Spock did not hesitate to give his opinion to the Captain.

"If I may say so Captain, I still stand by the opinion that Christine should go back aboard the enterprise. The people here seem to view her like some kind of God, furthermore.."

"Mr. Spock." Captain Kirk interrupted. Spock looked at him in turn curiously. He hardly ever interrupted him in mid-sentence, and what's more, the Captain was actually smiling. Spock did not understand this at all.

"Mr. Spock, you care for nurse Chapel don't you?"

"I…." He cleared his throat trying to control his emotions with regards to the question that caught him off guard. "I seek the well-being of the landing party."

Kirk smirked all the more. "But especially with regards to nurse Chapel."

"Sir, my regard for nurse Chapel is not the issue at hand; we should not waste time in ascertaining what the stone's significance are."

Captain Kirk's eyes grew wide at Spock's response for he did not deny that he did feel for her. It was a bit of a revelation to Kirk since everyone knew that Christine had a thing for him, could it be possible that after all this time Spock finally reciprocated those feelings. It was amusing indeed but that would have to wait for a later time.

Kirk nodded and they made their way over to the stones.

* * *

"What was that all about Christine?"

Ensign Ramirez asked once Spock and the Captain had left the tent.

She shook her head as she continued to look at the area where they had previously been standing.

"I have no idea ensign; no idea."

She shook her head out of her haze and went back towards her medical ingredients. "Anyway; it's time to get to work!" She said with a triumphant grin.


	9. Chapter 9

**Special thanks to ByaSouthernLady for her suggestions.  
**

**Speaking of which, if you enjoy a good Romulan tale filled with action, romance, and excitement check out her stories; you won't be disappointed :-)**

**Sorry for the delay and please enjoy the latest chapter.  
****Thanks for your reviews and suggestions; they're always appreciated.**

* * *

Memrah was in a meeting with his elders.

After going over the recent events with them he found that they reacted more passionately than he expected them to but at the same time he could not blame them for they were dealing with the chosen one based on their prophecy; it was not something to take lightly. They had been waiting so long, and had undergone so much heartache, and tragedy having their planet practically annihilated and having to resort to living in the underground, it was only right that the chosen one make her appearance now as stated in their ancient tomes.

"What do you mean you told her she was free to go Memrah? If she is the carrier of the life crystal than it is her destiny to stay here with us!" One of the elders demanded passionately. The others in turn mumbled in agreement.

"Don't you think I know that!" Memrah replied just as ardently.  
"But we have to make them think that they're free to come and go as they please. They say that they all take part in the healing."

"But that is not what the prophecy states!" Another elder yelled.

"There is one amongst them who particularly does not wish for her to leave" Memrah said as he began pacing around them. He looked at each and every single elder individually, seeing their desire to restore their poor planet. He was determined to do everything in his power to not let his people down.

"If we get him out of the way than I believe we will be successful in carrying out our mission." Memrah continued.

"Who is this you speak of?" Another elder asked.

"He goes by the name of Spock. He looks different from the rest of them."

"It is the one with the pointed ears I'll bet." One of them said.

"Precisely the one." Memrah answered.

"I do not trust his looks. He claims that he too wants to help save our people, restore our planet but we know what we must do. For now I must beg you to return to our people, tell them of what has occurred but furthermore tell them to remain in silence. We must make our visitors think that they're free to come and go as they wish. Most importantly; do not bring up the chosen one who carries the life crystal, as a matter of fact; I forbid anyone to approach her unless they have cleared permission with me!"

He stopped pacing and now stood in front of them, giving his final instructions.

"I will go to them now and I will convince her own people that it will be wise if she were to stay behind. I do not foresee that to be a problem but as for the pointed ear-one… He will be handled separately."

* * *

Captain Kirk was still digging through the colorful stones while Spock had gotten a hold of one of the Centarian phasers. He had completely disassembled it and was checking it piece by piece. Kirk took a break from rummaging around the stones and came over to sit as his side. He was breathing hard and suddenly felt extremely tired.

"I'm no Geologist Mr. Spock but I have a feeling that those rocks there could be manufactured into precious stones. I've never seen anything like it, would explain why Koloth and his gang caused so much destruction."

"Yes." Spock agreed. "It would be prudent to assume that the Klingons were attempting to take all the planet's precious stones. They wouldn't want to bother fighting the inhabitants of the planet as it would probably take up too much time."

"So they just destroyed enough to get what they wanted." Kirk finished for him.

Spock nodded. "It would seem that way Captain." Spock continued to look at him, and thought it was odd that he was breathing hard and looking so exhausted.

"Captain? Were you doing much lifting now?"

"No, as a matter of fact I wasn't. It's odd, I feel as if I had though."

"Curious." Spock replied. "Perhaps it would be prudent to send down one of the who is knowledgeable in Geology for further analysis."

Kirk nodded and pulled out his communicator.

"Uhura, Kirk here. I want you to scan the crew database; find someone who might have at one point majored or even studied Geology."

"Aye sir, checking database now."

The computer whizzed and beeped as the results finally came in.  
"Sir, Ensign Andrew Christopher was a geologist before joining Star Fleet. It says here that he worked in the field alongside Dr. Schmedeman who is a world renowned plate tectonics specialist. Together they were awarded the Zenin Galaxy prize for discovery of precious stone deposits in Ob III."

"Really?" Captain Kirk said in amazement.

"Yes sir, that's what it says here in his file."

Spock remained neutral but this new bit of information regarding Ensign Christopher did not sit well with him. He was the so obviously chasing after Christine that day she was helping him select food. He had never fully trusted his appearance and this bit of information only deepened his mistrust. If Ensign Christopher had in fact accomplished so much as to be awarded the Zenin Galaxy prize, why would he leave said profession and not continue making other accomplishments? To Spock it seemed that the puzzle before him was now being added with twists and turns, a challenge that he of course was more than willing to solve.

"Go ahead and notify him that he is to beam down to the planet's surface. We'll meet him at the rendezvous point; Kirk out."

Kirk turned to Spock. "Any progress with the phaser?"

Spock nodded. "Indeed, and once we get Ensign Christopher's analysis I might be able to make sense of why the Centarians believe nurse Chapel to be their chosen one."

Kirk nodded, and got up from where he was sitting, albeit with great pains, Spock took notice of him and went to reach for his arm to make sure he didn't fall over.

"Are you alright Captain?"

"I'm fine it's just.." He then looked over at the stones only a few feet away. "There's something really odd going on here Mr. Spock; and we're going to get to the bottom of it."


	10. Chapter 10

**I know it took me some time to update this one. I sort of had this on the back burner simmering for a good idea to come along cause I just don't want to add another chapter just for the sake of uploading something you know what I mean? But over the weekend I was hanging out with friends and I was struck with a passing idea.**

**Well, hope you enjoy!**

* * *

It turned out that Ensign Andrew Christopher was not only extremely knowledgeable in his field, but he was quick, and precise. His eyebrows knitted together as he read the results on his special geological equipment, he obviously did not like what it read back.

Spock all the while had his arms folded in front of him as he carefully observed every detail. Every turn, every facial expression, nothing was left unnoticed by Spock and he understood that he had indeed found something extremely surprising.

"Something wrong ensign?" Captain Kirk asked. "Yes and no." Andrew replied.

"These are priceless stones, worth a fortune almost anywhere you go if processed correctly and yet..." He looked up from readings and motioned for them to step away from the stones.

"Your energy readings when I first got here Captain were 72.4% We've been standing near these stones for only 3 minutes and your energy level now reads 64.7%"

"It's sucking away at our life source like some kind of parasite." Captain Kirk concluded.

"That would seem to be the case Captain; I've never come across anything like this before, but it's obviously dangerous, at least to us humans."

Kirk seemed to think about it a bit more. "Ensign, do you think it's possible that this could affect the klingons in the same manner?"

Andrew was thinking about it but Spock came over as he had been able to listen to the conversation in full.

"It is very likely Captain, I do believe however since their anatomy differs slightly then that of humans, it would perhaps take longer for them to be effected."

"So they could be traveling in space right now with the stolen cargo of stones, slowly having energy sucked out of them and they wouldn't even know it?"

Spock nodded. "Highly probable Captain since their mind set is focused on financial wealth, even if they were to begin to fall ill which they probably should have started to at least begin to feel weak, they would unlikely link their state of health with a substance they plan to make profit out of."

"And now the question remains, why does nurse Chapel react so much more violently?"

Spock gave a hint of a small smile. "I believe I have found the answer to that as well as to why they believe her to be their chosen one."  
He then dug out one of the phasers used by the centarians, but it was unloaded and safe for Spock to display to them.

"It is not unlike our own phasers except that instead of the energy source being lithium like ours, it is actually just a chunk off of one of the stones. Every time the phaser is fired, remnants of the stone are discharged at whatever is being fired at until it is empty and in need of recharging."

Kirk's eyes went wide. "You mean to tell me that Nurse Chapel has fragments of that stone inside her body?"

Spock nodded, and just as the stones give a certain reaction towards humans, it also does to the centarians, which was why when Memrah placed his hand over the spot where Nurse Chapel had been shot at, there had been a glow emitting off of her, and while they believe it to have been a sign of their prophecy, he was actually withdrawing energy from her person which was why she fainted shortly afterwards.

"So that medicine she took earlier.." Kirk said aloud.

"A temporary solution Captain, she needs to be brought aboard the enterprise to have the fragments extracted from her body."

Kirk and Spock immediately went into the direction of the tent where Nurse Chapel was before except now Memrah and a couple other people were there speaking with her, she seemed a bit flushed and looking under the weather again, this confirmed to Spock that she was not out of danger yet, he side stepped the Captain and made his way over to her.

Kirk nodded towards Memrah. "I am James T. Kirk, Captain of the star ship Enterprise, we're here to help you and your people."  
Memrah gave him a rather dry smile. "I am grateful to you Captain Kirk for you have brought us the chosen one." He said as he pointed towards Nurse Chapel who was currently speaking to Spock.

"We fear that she is unwell, we need to have her looked at by our ships doctor."

Memrah narrowed his eyes but only for a moment, he then replaced it with a wide smile. "Of course! You are free to do as you wish."

Kirk nodded towards Spock and Nurse Chapel who walked towards the Captain before they headed out of the tent, they turned the corner to look for ensign Christopher but found he was not there Kirk reached for his communicator to try and get a hold of him but in that moment; he was suddenly struck on the back of the head where everything blacked out.

* * *

When Kirk and Spock came to, they were in some kind of cave, tied in chains and unable to move much from their standing position against the wall. There were torches lit around them, and no sign of Christine or ensign Christopher.

Kirk pulled against his chains and sighed as he leaned against the wall.

"It would appear that they don't believe we want to help them."

Spock raised a brow. "You would be correct in that assumption Captain, and they have sufficient reason to doubt our sincerity given the treatment that they've experienced with the Klingons."

Kirk again pulled against his chains. "And they have nurse Chapel; she might have fallen ill again."

"There's no need to worry yourselves over her." Came a voice from the top of the steps. They looked up and saw ensign Christopher with a morbid smile on his face as he pointed a phaser at their direction.


	11. Chapter 11

**In the last chapter….**

_When Kirk and Spock came to, they were in some kind of cave, tied in chains and unable to move much from their standing position against the wall. There were torches lit around them, and no sign of Christine or ensign Christopher._

_Kirk pulled against his chains and sighed as he leaned against the wall._

_"It would appear that they don't believe we want to help them."_

_Spock raised a brow. "You would be correct in that assumption Captain, and they have sufficient reason to doubt our sincerity given the treatment that they've experienced with the Klingons."_

_Kirk again pulled against his chains. "And they have nurse Chapel; she might have fallen ill again."_

_"There's no need to worry yourselves over her." Came a voice from the top of the steps. They looked up and saw Ensign Christopher with a morbid smile on his face as he pointed a phaser at their direction._

* * *

"Ensign Christopher!" Kirk said in his most demanding voice. "I order you to get us out of here!"

"And I wanted to be the most famous geologist in the galaxy yet; here we are. Although… I may be able to accomplish that now. " He said as he pulled out a small piece of the stone that they were handling before except that it glowed with a vibrant orange color.

"Do you know what this is Captain?" Christopher said as he displayed it to both of them with a grim smile on his face. Kirk eyed the stone and then back up at him not knowing what he was getting at.

"This is a very precious gem Captain. As a matter of fact; it has never before been seen by human eyes, a myth to many. When you had called me to beam on to the planet's surface, I never imagined that I would stumble upon 'Citrinez'"

Spock's eyes grew wide.

"Thought to have the strength and purity of a diamond, but.. "

"Worth a hundred times more." Ensign Christopher finished.

"You know your geology well Mr. Spock! And I'll bet that's not the only subject you're very knowledgeable in; I can see why she likes you."

Spock swallowed hard. "Nurse Chapel needs medical attention right away, and you should not be handling the stones so close to your person either. " Spock said as he looked at the stone the ensign was currently holding.

"Why Spock! You do care! But I'll be perfectly fine I assure you for you see; back before I joined star fleet; I devised this little gem"

He pulled out a small black device that looked like a communicator except that it had several buttons.

"This handy, dandy contraption will stabilize any ill effects the stones might give off to humans. You see Captain, my whole purpose for joining star fleet was in search of these treasures. I figured that if I had any chance in finding this mythical rock, it would be aboard a star ship whose mission is to seek out new life and make new discoveries. Oh it wasn't always easy having to wait and be patient, especially having to sink so low as to be a mere ensign, but just look at how it paid off. "

"and you really think you can just take off with the Centarians stones?" Kirk said.

"Of course I can! I'll kill the both of you, and let the Centarians keep Nurse Chapel; they'll be so grateful to have you two out of the way and have their chosen one in peace that they'll let me do whatever I want!"

He strode in front of them with an air of pride and utmost arrogance that made Mr. Spock bubble with anger although he kept his face carefully neutral.

"No matter how you look at it, I'll come out winning in the end." He pointed his phaser to them again menacingly but it only made Kirk angry. "If you're going to do it Ensign, hurry up and get on with it!"

He laughed in turn. "I think not, I'll wait a while." He said with a self-satisfied grin as he walked away. He was climbing up the stairs when he stopped in mid stride and turned to them.

"Don't go anywhere now." He then let out a loud laugh that echoed throughout the cave that they were currently in and then he was gone.

Kirk pulled at his chains and looked over at Spock. "No chance of that superior Vulcan strength being able to overpower our bindings?"

Spock raised a brow and tugged as hard as he could against the chains, it moved slightly but not nearly enough to escape. "Negative Captain, I shall attempt to calculate a possible escape route once I obtain more data as to the flow of activity we receive."

"We can't rely on that Spock, Christopher can come down at any moment and decide to do away with us."

Spock looked around at his surroundings, trying to look for any clues or ways of ensnaring possible escape when they both heard footsteps again. Kirk stood defensively but then his interest peaked when he realized the footsteps sounded different. Both Kirk and Spock waited patiently to see who was approaching and were shocked to find a small Centarian girl, the same one who had been at Christine's bedside when she had first arrived.

She approached them cautiously; she was obviously nervous but determined about something.

"You are the chosen one's friends." She said to them.

"Yes we are, and we need your help. We have to get out of here and help her." Kirk said. The little girl fidgeted.

"She is ill again, and the elders do not know what to do about. They do not want to release you, they believe you want to take her away." She replied.

"We want to help you, we can help you all." Kirk tried to reason.

"The man that came from your ship, the one who calls himself Christopher, he says you have cruel intentions." The girl replied.

"He is deceiving you." Spock said. "He is only after the stones that are indigenous to your planet. If you were to leave here and check on him in this moment, I calculate that there is a 97.3% chance that he is scouring over your stones at this moment."

The girl nodded. "He was, I just saw him before I came down here."

"He is a traitor." Kirk added. "We came here with the intention to help your people, you can help us, to help you; please release us."

"The woman, she is not the chosen one?" The girl asked.

Spock nodded. " The reason she reacted to Memrah's touch was because she had been shot by one of your phasers beforehand, she is not the being that you are all awaiting."

The girl nodded. "I wasn't sure at first but I believe you are right. I was in the tent nursing her back to health. I have read what the prophecy states, there is no way that the chosen one would succumb to illness so easily and so frequently as she has in the short period of time she has been here."

"She is just a human." Kirk replied. "And we need to get her out of here so she can receive proper treatment."

"If I release you, you will not harm my people even though they see you as enemies at present?" She asked.

"Our intention from the very beginning has been one of peace." Kirk replied.

The girl stayed staring at him, and then looked over at Spock. She tentatively walked over to them, and with a silver ring-like device, freed them from their chains.  
Kirk tried to soothe his red and aching wrists before he walked over to the Centarian girl and smiled at her. "You are very brave, and very astute; you will be a remarkable young woman when you grow up."

"I thank you ." She said as she bowed slightly. "Now please, help us."

Kirk looked over at Spock. "We intend to do just that."

Spock nodded. "I have a plan Captain, this is what I would advise… "


	12. Chapter 12

**I know what you're thinking: "Freaking Finally, she updated! I thought she had abandoned this story!" **

**But…. You'll be happy to know that I'm working on finishing the rest of this story :-) So.. hang in there crew! **

* * *

_Since it's been a while since I last updated, let me just give you all a brief run-down of what happened in the last chapter:_  
_Captain Kirk and Spock were being held captive by the Centarians. It was then that they discovered Ensign Christopher's true intentions and that his initial purpose to join Starfleet was solely based on discovering a planet that harbored the elusive Citrinez stones. The Centarians believe that Christine Chapel is the chosen one that will lead them out of their current state of despair (caused by the Klingons) and into a new prosperous age, but what they don't know is that her body had a reaction to their leader's power because she had been shot by a Centarian phaser and inadvertedly had small remnants of Citrinez lodged into her body and unlike the Centarians who are immune to the effects of the Citrinez, she is becoming dangerously ill as time progresses with the stones lodged in her body._

_It is now up to Spock and Captain Kirk to save her! And help the Centarians!_

* * *

The small Centarian girl carefully crept inside the tent where there was much commotion going on. The woman whom they thought was the chosen one had passed out again, and they were all scrambling in and out of the tent. Memrah stood nearby and was frowning at Ensign Christopher.

"That was not what you had said to us before! And now you want to leave with our stones?" Memrah yelled at Christopher. "You're no better than prisoners who're locked up!"

Ensign Christopher held his hands up defensively. "I've done nothing to warrant your aggression, and I don't see what harm it would do to you and your people if I take a few rock samples off your planet. If anything; I'm actually doing you all a favor for I will study the compounds of these stones and have a better understanding of how to rebuild what you all have lost."

Memrah was now becoming furious. "Do not attempt to make a fool of me and my people! You're no different from the Klingons who tried to destroy our world! All you want to do is steal from us!"

Christopher laughed out loud. "You are mistaken if you seriously think that your stones are of any significance."

"But they are!" Came another voice.

Memrah and several others inside the tent turned around to find Spock and Kirk standing there.

Memrah frowned and yelled louder than before. "How have you escaped?!"

The small Centarian girl stepped before them and extended her hands as if that would protect them from harm.

"I released them because I believe that they're truly the ones that will help us, and even though none of you want to see; I know and I know that others know that that woman who lies ill is not the chosen one we await."

Memrah was enraged at the audacity of the girl and was already walking towards her but Kirk picked her up and set her aside. He held his hands up to show he meant no harm and offered Memrah a look of sorrow. "The woman, the one who serves as our nurse and the one you think is the chosen one; where is she?"

Memrah sighed, he was truly exasperated by how everything seemed to be falling apart. "She is ill and not responding to our healing."

Kirk offered Memrah a partial smile. "That's because, she is not the chosen one. I know that you all have been devastated by the Klingons, and I know that you all are desperately seeking relief and a change to your current situation." He said as he looked around at the raggedy tent they were currently in. "But you are placing your faith and hopes on something that simply is not what you think it to be." Kirk continued as he walked over to where Christine lay unconscious, he could see Spock looking at her form as well, and he didn't miss the look of worry in his eyes.

It was then that Spock walked over to where Kirk was standing. He looked over at Christine for a long moment and then turned to look straight at Memrah.  
"Memrah, The woman laying here is a human being, and she will die if you do not allow us to take her back to our ship. We can relieve you all of your circumstance if you simply cooperate with us."

Memrah actually seemed to be considering it until Ensign Christopher pulled out a phaser and pointed it to all of them.

"I didn't want it to come to this, but it seems I'm not going to have a choice." He said desperately. He then set his sights on Spock and pointed the phaser specifically at him. "You, always have to ruin everything don't you! You and our damn logic! Things are going to be different this time though, things are…"

But before he could finish his sentence, a phaser set to stun shot him square in the back. Everyone looked up to find Scotty and three others from security.

Memrah lifted his hands up and exclaimed. "We have been saved!"

Scotty smirked and lowered his phaser. "Aye, but you can thank the cap'n for that laddie."

Kirked sighed and smiled. "Perfect timing Mr. Scott."

"Just followin' orders Cap'n. Before you had beamed down ye gave me instructions that if more than an hour had passed without communication that a landin' party should be sent down, and here we are.

Kirk smiled. "Good job Scotty, now I need for you to take Nurse Chapel back to the ship as soon as possible and get her to sickbay."  
Scotty did as ordered. Spock thought about offering to help but he saw that they had everything taken care of and now was not really the time or the place to display the emotions raging throughout his mind and his body.

Kirk turned towards Memrah noticing that he was not protesting to the orders now as he did before, instead he looked as they carried Christine away with pain his eyes.

Kirk placed his hand carefully on his shoulder and said in a soft voice. "I'm sorry that she was not the one that your people have been waiting for."

Memrah sighed loudly and whispered back. "I am sorry too. I think a part of us suspected once she began falling ill so often, but you must understand Captain that we saw her as the light of hope that we so desperately need. It seems that we have nothing now."

"That is not true." Spock said as he stood beside the Captain. "We will help you become a prosperous society as you once were. It will take some time and effort, but it is very possible."

Captain Kirk nodded and smiled. "You have our word on that Memrah, we'll get our people to help your people and all that has occurred will be a thing of the past, and from what I've been able to tell so far.." He said as he looked over at the Centarian girl. "You seem to have a bright future full of promise."

Memrah nodded. "I look forward to that day Captain.

* * *

Christine had been in Sickbay for two days now when she finally woke up. The first thing she saw was the smiling face of Dr. McCoy.

"And there she is. Nice to have you back Christine."

Her eyes fluttered as they adjusted to the light in the room. "How long have I been out?"

"It's been off and on, but a total of about 49 hours."

"49 hou…"

"Hey… You needed the rest." Dr. McCoy interrupted. "You've been through a lot, AND you will be taking the rest of the week off and recovering in your quarters once you're discharged."

"Oh, but doctor.." She began.

"No but's about it Christine; Doctor's orders." He said with a smile.

She smiled in turn and leaned back.

"Oh, and by the way; you've had a visitor come by a couple of times. He actually asked me to call him once you've awakened."

Christine's eyes opened wider. "Who? The Captain?"

McCoy's eyes twinkled with mirth as he pursed his lips, obviously savoring the moment. "Mr. Spock actually."

"Mr. Spock? Are you sure?"

Doctor McCoy raised a brow. "I may be a lot of things Christine but blind is not one of them. I'm going to call him and tell him you're awake just like I promised." And without another word, he turned and did just that.

Christine lost track of time in those moments. She didn't know if hours had gone by or five minutes, but what she was in fact very aware of was that she suddenly heard the swoosh of a door opening, and that at the entrance stood Mr. Spock looking directly at her.


	13. Chapter 13

**And the last Chapter! Thanks for sticking with me in my first Spock/Chapel piece! Who knows, maybe they'll be more!**

* * *

Maybe it was all a dream and she was still really unconscious in sickbay, but as Spock neared her biobed, the more she realized that this was anything but.

"How are you feeling nurse?" He asked as he clasped his hands behind his back.

"I'm fine if maybe a little weak."

Spock opened his mouth as if he were going to say something but then closed it abruptly. It seemed odd to Christine for Spock was never nervous or weary and yet he seemed apprehensive. Even his cheeks were becoming tinged green and she wondered what exactly had him this way, she hoped that he was not ill due to the incident.

"I want to thank you Mr. Spock." She said as she looked up at him with her warm blue eyes. "I know that if it wasn't for you and the Captain, Ensign Christopher's true motives might have been discovered too late."

"I too am sorry that things turned out the way they did. I understand that you and the ensign were friends, it must pain you to realize what his true motives were."

She thought about it for a moment. "I was surprised, but I don't' know that pained would be the word to describe it." She smiled up at him. "Sometimes it takes a negative incident like this to realize who your true friends are. To see the strength and qualities that they possess and in the end you realize that such individuals should never be taken for granted. When it comes to you Mr. Spock, words cannot convey how honored I am to have gotten to know you better, and I hope that in time you will consider me a friend."

"Of course." Spock replied. He continued to look at her as if he were still contemplating saying something. Christine cocked her head to the side and asked. "Are you alright Mr. Spock? You seem under the weather, have you been eating all your meals like I demonstrated to you?"

"I don't think lack of food is this green blooded fellow's dilemma." Dr. McCoy suddenly said as he snuck up behind Spock and patted him hard on the shoulder with a wide grin on his face.

"Right Spock? Care to tell nurse Chapel what's really on your mind?"

"Dr. I don't think…." Spock began, his cheeks growing all the more green.

"Oh come on Spock! You think too much! Why don't you tell the good nurse what's really on your mind?"

She looked between the two and smiled. "Yes, please do. You can tell me anything Mr. Spock."

The ships intercom suddenly buzzed and McCoy all but cussed at the interruption. He flipped the switch. "This better be good!" He said angrily.

"Hello to you too Bones." Kirk replied while laughing on the other end. "Is Spock there with you?"

"Yes he's here, why?"

"I need him to come down to the transporter room. We're going to beam down to finish negotiations with the Centarians."

"I'll be there shortly Captain" Spock replied. He then turned to nurse Chapel and nodded. "I hope that you will have a speedy recovery nurse Chapel and I am pleased to see you are well."

She smiled up at him again. "Thank you for stopping by Mr. Spock."

When he left, McCoy lifted a brow and sighed loudly. "Well, so much for that!" He then marched back to his office, leaving a very confused Nurse Chapel with different thoughts running through her mind.

A couple of days went by and Christine was finally released to her quarters for the remainder of her recovery.  
On one night Uhura and a couple of other officers stopped by to visit her and even play cards, it had really brightened up her mood considerably. However, Mr. Spock had not visited her again, and she began to seriously wonder if things were going to return to the way they were before when they hardly ever spoke to each other.  
This filled Christine with much sadness and dismay. Maybe he saw her as a weak human since she was the only one who suffered serious injuries from the whole Centarian deal.

It was funny, here she went out of her way to make sure people were well, even outside of her on call hours, but it seemed that nobody was really there for her when she needed it. Yes, she was doing a lot better, and one day she even went down to the ships gardens to take a stroll, but returned to her quarters when she felt tired, she hated feeling so helpless.

She was reading a book when the chime to her room sounded. She looked towards the door feeling a little flustered and quickly found something to wrap herself with seeing as she was just wearing her pajamas.

"Come in." She said as she wrapped her shawl around her.

"May I come in?" Asked the man who she thought about night and day.

"Of course, please do." She said as she got up and pulled out a chair for him to sit in.

"I am very pleased to see you Mr. Spock, how is work? How are the Centarians faring?"

He sat down on the chair but before she sat across from him, she walked over to her replicator and requested her favorite blend of tea. It was a mixture of chai, and vanilla, very strong and fragrant.

"Please have some, this is my favorite blend." She said as she offered him a cup of tea.

He took it without question and brought the cup carefully to his lips and gave it a tentative taste.

"Curious." He said as she stared at the cup. "This is very good Nurse."

She all but giggled. "I think so too, it is my favorite blend."

"To answer your previous questions, the Captain and I have been working arduous hours to make sure the Centarians have everything they need in order to be able to rebuild their world. It is only today that I have been able to tend to my personal matters which is why I decided to stop by and see how you're recovering."

She could feel the blush forming on her cheeks as she nodded. "I'm doing a lot better Mr. Spock, I think the worst of it has passed and hopefully by next week I'll be able to return to my normal duties."

"I'm curious.." She continued. "What of the other Klingons who initially tried to destroy their world in pursuit of those stones, has anything ever been reported about them? Did the stones end up affecting their anatomy?"

"As far as I know, nothing has been reported to Star fleet with regards to the Klingons. I estimate that various scenarios could have occurred one being that it is possible that I could have been wrong in my calculations and the stones do not affect them as it would in us. Another possibility is that they've landed on another planet and have sold off what they had stolen. Another such occurrence could have been…."

Wow.. the man could talk given the right subject. Christine sat there and listened to him attentively, relishing in the fact that he was actually in her quarters and talking to her just like in her day dreams. True, he wasn't really reciting love sonnets, but this was Spock, the fact that he had taken time out of his extremely hectic schedule to be there with her spoke volumes to her.

He contemplated her for a moment after they had discussed other topics. She couldn't believe the time that had passed, he had been there for over two hours!  
"I must tell you Nurse Chapel…"

"You might as well call me Christine Spock, at least when we're alone." She said with a violent blush on her cheeks.

"Christine…" He worded carefully.

"I must tell you Christine that I enjoy our topics of conversation. I do not know why it has taken the amount of time that it has for us to finally partake of such stimulating activity."

She sighed. "I couldn't tell you. It could well may be our circumstances. You're up in the bridge, I'm down in sickbay, we work different schedules. It seemed that time and circumstance was always against us forming a friendship."

He looked directly at her as he still held the tea cup in his hand. "We should rectify this then, and make it a point to meet with more frequency." He said.

She nodded. "I would like that very much."

Again, he looked as if he wanted to say something else but instead he stood up from his chair. He walked over to her and looked at her. "I will contact you and we will set up another meeting."  
She smiled, so that's the name he used when referring to a 'date' .

"Absolutely." She said with a smile. "I look forward to it very much."

He looked at her again and graced her for the first time every with a small smile. It lit up his eyes and his entire face in general seemed to glow. "As do I Christine." He said before he left her quarters.

Yes, things would be different from then on for Spock had finally noticed Christine Chapel.


End file.
